Browsing by Author "Melagoda, DG"

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item: Conference-Full-text
Applicability of green roofs in Sri Lankan high-rise buildings: drivers and barriers
(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2018-06) Subaskar, C; Vidyaratne, H; Melagoda, DG; Sandanayake, YG; Gunatilake, S; Waidyasekara, KGAS
Sri Lanka is experiencing a construction boom and there are many high-rise building constructions coming up. Thus, many adverse effects are associated with high rise buildings. Greenery provides several benefits to the environment and reduces these effects. However due to limited space in urban areas it is impossible to plant new plants, trees and vegetation around the buildings. As a solution green roofs can be adopted as they provide many environmental and sustainable benefits from rooftops. Though this concept is more popular across many countries over the past few decades, still implementation of this technology in Sri Lanka is new and scant. Due to the lack of past researches, awareness on green roofs is very low for professionals, developers, government authorities, building owners and general public. The aim of this research is to identify and analyse the potential of green roofs in high rise buildings in Sri Lanka. A comprehensive literature review was carried out on popularity of green roof in global context, types of green roofs, components of green roofs, barriers and drivers in implementing green roofs. The data collection was conducted through expert interviews and questionnaire survey. Expert interviews were carried out to validate the barriers and drivers identified through literature review in Sri Lankan context and questionnaire survey was used to identify the most significant barriers and drivers. Purposive sampling techniques was used for selection of the respondents. The data collected from expert interviews were analysed through manual content analysis and the data collected by questionnaire were analysed using RII method. The final outcome of this study finds that green roof is an applicable concept for Sri Lankan high rise buildings.
item: Conference-Full-text
Application of client’s quantity surveying practices in the power sector in Sri Lanka
(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2017-06) Melagoda, DG; Jayawickrama, TS; Sandanayake, YG; Ramachandra, T; Gunatilake, S
The effective use of Quantity Surveying practices is vital for the construction sector and its contribution to the overall economic growth and development of the country. With today’s competitive economy, the profession has been identified as paramount in a broad range of development sectors. In Sri Lanka, Quantity Surveyors’ involvement is limited to the construction stage of power generation and distribution projects as Consultant’s Quantity Surveying and Contractor’s Quantity Surveying practices. With the amplification of the power sector, cost and time overruns have been identified in power generation and distribution projects due to the absence of cost plans and the poor documentation of bids and contracts, leading to disputes, legal costs and poor administration of projects. Therefore, the involvement of Client’s Quantity Surveyors in power sector projects has been identified as important. This is an emerging path for Quantity Surveyors to contribute their expertise in Sri Lankan public sector developments projects. In this context, the study investigated the applicability of client’s quantity surveying practices in the Sri Lankan power sector. A mix research approach was adopted in the study including a preliminary survey and a questionnaire survey. The findings of preliminary survey were analyzed with content analysis technique. Data collected through questionnaire survey were analyzed using Relative Importance Index. It was identified that non-involvement of client’s Quantity surveyors in the Sri Lankan power sector is due to the lack of recognition of the requirement of the profession in the sector and execution of duties demanding quantity surveying expertise by other professionals in the power sector.
item: Conference-Full-text
Beyond site material handling and transportation in large-scale construction projects
(IEEE, 2018-05) Abeysinghe, AMGP; Waidyasekara, KGAS; Melagoda, DG; Chathuranga, D
There is a significant contribution of materials to be handled, transferred, and used; further, large logistics operations are related to transporting, storing, moving, and reloading in large scale construction projects. Thus, the research aims to investigate issues that occur beyond the site, material handling, and transportation in large-scale construction projects. Accordingly, extensive literature was synthesized to identify the usage of materials in large-scale construction projects, their significance, and procedures of material handling and transportation. This study adopted a qualitative research approach by selecting a multiple case study strategy. Five largescale construction projects in Colombo Metropolitan area were selected and semi-structured interviews were conducted with three different levels of site personnel from each case study. Finally, the gathered information was analyzed using computerbased content analysis and further supported by data collected through observations. The outcomes disclosed various issues in material handling and transportation with respective causes and possible solutions to minimize identified issues in large scale construction projects. Accidents, adverse weather conditions, lack of material handling equipment, lack of labors, improper packing systems, misplace and steal of materials, lack of pre-arrangements, bulk quantities, limited site area, delay in taking approvals, improper supervision and unawareness of the handling process were identified as common material handling and transportation issues. It was identified these can be mitigated by proper supervision, providing a manual to handle each material, labeling material, maintaining good communication with laborers and arranging a gate pass system. Further, recommendations for improving material handling and transportation were provided for industry practitioners.
item: Conference-Full-text
Decision making on adaptive reuse of historic buildings in Sri Lanka
Samaranayake, RADIU; Jayawickrama, TS; Melagoda, DG; Rathnayake, RMDIM
The construction industry is consistently involved with improving the economic, social and environmental parameters of sustainability. This has led the sustainability in construction to shift from an original focus on cleaner and leaner project delivery to a restorative and regenerative approach. Increasing demand for urban regeneration has driven the act of preserving and reusing parts of cities with historical significance for a variety of uses. Thereby, adaptive reuse serves as an attractive and superior alternative for reusing buildings with architectural and historical importance in terms of sustainability and a circular economy. However, many historic buildings are being disused or demolished due to the inability of determining viable new uses for historic buildings. Thus, this study aimed at providing systematic guidance for decision-making on Adaptive Reuse of Historic Buildings (ARHB) in Sri Lanka. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to explore the concept of adaptive reuse, related regulations, drivers and barriers, new uses for historic buildings and factors affecting decision-making on adaptive reuse of buildings. Finally, this paper proposes a conceptual framework to assist decision making on ARHB in Sri Lanka.
item: Conference-Full-text
Evaluation of marketing practices and marketing performance measurements undertaken by quantity surveying consultancy firms in Sri Lanka
(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2018-06) Nethmini, PK; Waidyasekara, KGAS; Melagoda, DG; Sandanayake, YG; Gunatilake, S; Waidyasekara, KGAS
Marketing is now recognised as one of the important functions necessary to meet the unprecedented challenges faced by a firm. This concept can be suggested as an answer to the professional firms to sustain demand, growth, and profitability. Although marketing is the management process responsible for identifying and satisfying clients’ requests, and profitably, Quantity Surveyors (QSs) still have a limited understanding of marketing and how it is implemented in the changing and challenging market conditions to enhance business growth. Hence, this research paper aims to evaluate the formalised marketing practices and marketing performance measurement systems used in Quantity Surveying Consultancy Firms (QSCFs) in Sri Lanka. After a thorough literature review of formalised marketing practices, endeavours were made to discover the realism and their importance to QSCFs in Sri Lanka through a questionnaire survey. A total of 31 responses were accounted for the analysis of 12 QSCFs in Sri Lanka. The findings revealed that the adoption of the ‘marketing practices’ in the Quantity Surveying (QS) business is still in its formative stage. However, the majority of respondents recognised the importance of adopting marketing activities as a business development activity. Quality service delivery, measuring customer satisfaction, and personal relationship management activities seem to be the critical marketing practices for QSCFs in Sri Lanka. At present, the majority of QSCFs pay minimum attention to measuring the performance of marketing outcomes using advance measurement indicators, but most respondents strongly agreed on the performance measurement of marketing practices will help to enhance their business success.
item: Conference-Abstract
The Feasibility of establishing electric vehicle charging stations at public hotspots in Sri Lanka
Rathnayake, RMDIM; Jayawickrama, TS; Melagoda, DG
Electric vehicles (EVs) provide the best paradigm for sustainable transportation while challenging the carbon dependent travel pattern. However, charging inconvenience always conflicts with the popularity of EVs. In this vein, research have emphasised public hotspots as the best location to establish electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) while fulfilling customer delight. However, in-depth studies of the feasibility of establishing EVCSs at public hotspots are absent. Thus, this study aims to identify suitable locations to establish EVCSs in Sri Lanka and investigate the feasibility of establishment under six feasibility aspects namely, technical, economic, legal, cultural, environmental and market. The study adopted a mixed approach. Data collection was done through interviews and questionnaire survey. Content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data and quantitative data were analysed using Simple Payback Period (SPP) calculation and Relative Importance Index (RII). The outcomes disclosed establishment is feasible in Sri Lanka and Hotel was recognized as the highest suitable public hotspot.
item: Conference-Full-text
Impact of using minimum preliminary items for building works in Sri Lankan construction industry
(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2018-06) Pradeep, PGC; Seneviratne, LDIP; Rathnayake, U; Melagoda, DG; Sandanayake, YG; Gunatilake, S; Waidyasekara, KGAS
Preliminary items section is one of the critical sections in a bill of quantities, though they are not direct parts of the permanent work. There are some preliminary items which are not included in the preliminary bill. In Sri Lankan construction industry employers are willing to pay for the preliminary items which mostly impact to the work items while ignoring the other items. Further, corporate consultants do not instigate employers to include preliminary items. There is a research gap in identifying the impact of minimum usage of preliminary items for building works. Hence, this research was aimed at investigating the impact of using non-detailed preliminary bill for building projects in Sri Lanka. Initially, a literature synthesis was carried out to identify the preliminary items commonly included in the preliminary bill for the building projects in locally and in global context. Furthermore, factors to be considered when pricing the preliminary bill and the importance of preliminary items were identified. Subsequently, the relationship between preliminary amount and the total contract amount was recognized. Data was collected through the semi structured expert interviews and a work study. Thirty building projects were selected for the work study. The collected data was analysed using content analysis with the use of Nvivo 11 software. The analysis revealed that there are negative impacts due to minimum usage of preliminary items in the preliminary bill such as; deterioration of standard and quality of the construction industry, lack of investments toward construction industry, impact to the employer and subsidence of involvement of labours in the construction industry name to few. Furthermore, the paper discussed the factors to be considered when preparing the preliminary bill. Among those factors size of the project is a critical factor when preparing the preliminary bill. Moreover, findings disclosed that average preliminary percentage of building projects is 4.98% and the percentage is increasing with the accretion of the contract amount in Sri Lankan construction industry.
item: Conference-Full-text
The prospect of implementing pf2 in Sri Lanka
(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2018-07) Ravishker, T; Jayawickrama, TS; Melagoda, DG; Sandanayake, YG; Gunatilake, S; Waidyasekara, KGAS
The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) as a sub-set of broader procurement approach of Public Private Partnerships (PPP), uses private sector capacity and public resources in order to deliver public sector infrastructure and/or services. In 2012, the UK Government publicly launched the new model, called “Private Finance 2 (PF2)” with some significant reforms to the PFI model, which are particularly aimed at tackling inefficiency, increasing transparency, shortening procurement periods and attracting new sources of finance. PF2 can be used as an instrument for producing new and more effective ways of bringing public services. While other countries are moving from PFI model to PF2 and other variants of PFI model, in Sri Lanka, there is a dearth of PFI type projects. However, there is a considerable number of researches on PFI model in Sri Lanka, but there is no evidence for researches on PF2 model. Accordingly, this is an initial study aimed to determine the prospect of implementing PF2 model in Sri Lanka. Applicability of PF2 model in the Sri Lankan context was defined using the collected through expert interviews and suitable sectors to implement PF2 model were ranked based on Relative Importance Index (RII) value. Construction industry advisors of the government and construction organizations who are either familiar and knowledgeable with the model were selected for data collection. Results show that the PF2 model is generally applicable in Sri Lanka compared to PFI features. Transportation, provision of electricity and water, and health care were recognized as the most suitable sectors to apply PF2 model in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, real estate and educational sectors have been recognized as sectors which are not suitable to carry out under the PF2 model.
item: Article-Full-text
Prospects and restraints of green roofs for high-rise buildings in Sri Lanka
(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2020) Charles, S; Vidyaratne, H; Melagoda, DG
Purpose – Green roofs are acknowledged as a method to substitute greenery washed out by the urbanization. They provide many ecological and sustainable benefits of greenery; reduce the adverse effects of high-rise building constructions. Though this concept is more popular across many countries over the past few decades, still, implementation of this technology in Sri Lanka is new and scant. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the potential of green roofs in high-rise buildings in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach – The data collection was conducted through expert interviews and questionnaire survey. Expert interviews were carried out to validate the prospects and restraints identified through literature review to the Sri Lankan context and analyzed using content analysis. Questionnaire survey identified the most significant prospects and restraints using descriptive statistics and paired sample t-test. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. Findings – Reduction of air pollution, aesthetical appearance, thermal benefits and energy savings, reduction of an urban heat island effect, the addition of points in the green rating system are the top most significant prospects that need to be highlighted in promoting green roof systems in Sri Lankan high rises. Less space allocation on rooftops, lack of technical competence and lack of awareness and research are restraints that need most effective elimination strategies to encourage green roof systems. Originality/value – The first identified and quantified prospects and restraints for green roof system in Sri Lankan high-rise buildings can be utilized by the government, donors, multi-lateral agencies to promote the sustainable development in Sri Lanka and this knowledge could be used in different scale awareness programs. The value of this paper is such that the paper discusses the links of green roofs with the other facets of sustainability. The new legal reforms and amendments in Sri Lanka could potentially be pending with findings of this study.